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TrekToday - TNG Cast Remember Roddenberry

TNG Cast Remember Roddenberry

It may be ten years since the death of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but for TNG castmembers speaking at last weekend's 35th Anniversary convention, the passage of time hasn't diminished their memories of him.

"[I] always loved his visits to the set," Brent Spiner (Data) told the Las Vegas audience, according to a report by Jacqueline Bundy at the Trekker Newsletter. "He treated the cast like his grand kids."

For each of the cast, their favourite Roddenberry moment was a little different. Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher) singled out the personal phonecall from the producer in which he offered her the role of the Enterprise-D's CMO.

LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge) said that he treasured Roddenberry's "open door policy," as the cast always felt welcome to talk to him about any concerns they may have had. In particular, the actor said he loved Trek because of "Gene's vision of IDIC. And the respect for life Trek always demonstrates."

The actors had similar memories of working with the Original Series cast members. When he learned that he would be talking engineer to engineer with James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Burton said that "you've got to remember that you are talking to a true Trek fan so I was over the moon. All I could think of was 'I'm going to be working with Scotty!'"

Brent Spiner spoke fondly of the late DeForest Kelley, who had a cameo appearance in the TNG pilot, 'Encounter At Farpoint.' Spiner said that he was "jazzed to learn he would be working with him," calling the experience "thrilling." He added that Kelley was a "wonderful man."

Further comments from the TNG cast, including Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) and Michael Dorn (Worf), can be found in the full report at the Trekker Newsletter.